INSURRECTION/ SP MPs rebel, drag Gjati to vote on territorial division!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

2026-10-11 21:28:13Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

While Russian propaganda has repeatedly promoted the creation of units made up of so-called Ukrainian “volunteers” fighting alongside Moscow, the testimonies of survivors, veterans, and former prisoners of war paint a completely different picture. Behind the facade of declarations of “voluntary defection,” lie stories of psychological pressure, violence, and desperate attempts at survival.

In August 2026, Russia officially merged several small detachments into the so-called “Ukrainian Volunteer Special Forces Brigade,” most notably the “Maksym Kryvonis” battalion — a unit that, according to estimates by Ukrainian media and investigative teams (such as Suspilne), consists of a few dozen to about 200 members, all former Ukrainian servicemen captured between 2023 and 2024.

Pressure and torture tactics in captivity

According to reports by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), around 95% of released Ukrainian prisoners of war have reported facing torture or ill-treatment while in Russian custody.

Experts from international organizations and human rights activists emphasize that the systematic violence used in the camps makes the notion of “voluntary consent” practically invalid. Activists like Maksym Butkevych, who spent 28 months as a prisoner of war, testify that offers to join the Russian army constantly came after the violent sessions. “They showed us that they could do whatever they wanted with us, so we had to agree to everything,” he explains.

Despite Russian claims, military analysts and Ukrainian intelligence services see these units primarily as an attempt to imitate and distract attention from the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Freedom Legion — units made up of Russian citizens fighting on Kiev's side.

The case of Pavlo Oliynyk, how he joined the battalion to escape

One of the most detailed accounts comes from Pavlo Oliynyk, a 25-year-old, former senior lieutenant of Ukrainian forces, captured in Donbas in 2024. After facing physical and psychological violence in captivity, he accepted the offer to join the “Maksym Kryvonis” battalion, with the sole purpose of reaching the front line and escaping.

According to his testimony given through his lawyer, former prisoners in this unit were kept under strict surveillance and guarded by mercenaries from the Russian private company Redut, while being financed by Russian military intelligence. Oliynyk says he managed to escape in March 2025, before being sent into combat, spending two days hiding in basements before making contact with Ukrainian forces.

Currently, Oliynyk has been in custody in Ukraine for nearly two years while authorities investigate the possibility of treason, at a time when his case sheds light on the dark and dangerous dynamics of prisoner recruitment in conflict zones.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×